THE WINTER JOURNEY 259 
temperature was between — 20° and — 30° all day, and that 
was good too. When crossing the undulations which ran 
down out of the mountain into the true pressure ridges on 
our right we found that the wind which came down off the 
mountain struck along the top of the undulation, and flow- 
ing each way, caused a N.E. breeze on one side anda N.W. 
breeze on the other. There seemed to be wind in the sky, 
and the blizzard had not cleared as far away as we should 
have wished. 
During the time through which we had come it was 
by burning more oil than is usually allowed for cooking 
that we kept going at all. After each meal was cooked 
we allowed the primus to burn on for a while and thus 
warmed up the tent. Then we could nurse back our frozen 
feet and do any necessary little odd jobs. More often 
we just sat and nodded for a few minutes, keeping one 
another from going too deeply to sleep. But it was running 
away with the oil. We started with 6 one-gallon tins (those 
tins Scott had criticized), and we had now used four of 
them. At first we said we must have at least two one- 
gallon tins with which to go back; but by now our estimate 
had come down to one full gallon tin, and two full primus 
lamps. Our sleeping-bags were awful. It took me, even as 
early in the journey as this, an hour of pushing and thump- 
ing and cramp every night to thaw out enough of mine to 
get into it atall. Even that was not so bad as lying in them 
when we got there. 
Only — 35° but ‘fa very bad night” according to my 
diary. We got away in good time, but it was a ghastly day 
and my nerves were quivering at the end, for we could not 
find that straight and narrow way which led between the 
crevasses on either hand. Time after time we found we 
were out of our course by the sudden fall of the ground 
beneath our feet—in we went and then—“ are we too far 
right ?”’—nobody knows—“ well let’s try nearer in to the 
mountain,” and so forth! “By hard slogging 23 miles 
this morning—then on in thick gloom which suddenly 
lifted and we found ourselves under a huge great mountain 
of pressure ridge looking black in shadow. We went on, 
